Details on Kirby Hocutt’s extension at Texas Tech

Kirby Hocutt is guaranteed $13.9 million over the life of the extension that keeps him in Lubbock through Aug. 31, 2027, according to documents obtained by Don Williams of the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal.

The extension, signed May 1 but retroactive to April 1, pays him $1.5 million in the 2019-20 athletic year and rises to $1.845 million in 2026-27. Additionally, Hocutt is eligible for up to $225,000 in bonuses, and Tech will make $275,000 deposits in his retirement account until 2026, when that figure ups to $500,000.

Should Texas Tech fire Hocutt without cause, the school would owe him 80 percent of his remaining contract, offset by future pay. Should Hocutt take another AD job, he would owe $1.5 million if his departure occurred on or before Aug. 31, 2021; that figure eventually drops to $500,000.

This recent extension is the fourth in five years for Hocutt, who has run Texas Tech’s athletics department since 2011. His hires in men’s basketball and baseball have been absolute home runs — Chris Beard led the Red Raiders to within a shot of the school’s first basketball title last month, and Tim Tadlock took Tech to the College World Series in 2013, ’16 and ’18.

Football has been a different matter. Hocutt hired Matt Wells in December to replace Kliff Kingsbury, a Hocutt hire who went 35-40 in six seasons.

National columnist - Zach joined the staff in 2012...and has been attempting to improve Doug and Scott's writing ability ever since (to little avail). Outside of football season, you can find him watching the San Antonio Spurs reading Game of Thrones fan theories.